26 months old!!!!

Oh my sweet Ellie belly! You are 26 months old! WOW! Where did time go to?!?!?!? Let me just take a moment to tell you what I love about you the most these days....

• You now love ketchup (you used to despise it)..but now ketchup makes it all better!
• Same goes for ranch dressing. YUM. I knew you were a Texan!
• You love going to church and learning about Jesus. Every time you go, you come home with a new story or saying. I love your innocent love for the Lord!
• You like to tell the story of Noah's Ark; complete with the details -- it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, Noah wasnt scared because God said it would be ok, a bird had leaves in her mouth and thats how Noah knew it was safe now......oh and a few other details you made up, like -- Noah had a big TV on the ark. Silly girl!
• You picked out Cinderella bedding for your new big girl bed. I love how you call her Cinderellie ;) (that story is for another post)
• You still love babies! You love to feed them, shoosh them, rock them, change them...you know, all those mommy things
• You call out in us, the things we call out in you! - dont show your food, no talking, be nice (just to name a few)
• You are doing so well with potty-training when you are with mommy. With other people....hm....
• You remember almost everything we say to you. We have to be careful!
• Your fave foods are -- pizza, pears, apples, strawberries, bars, fruit snacks, broccoli, corn

Well....I am sure there are so many more things I love about you....but you are calling me to play with you! I love you, my big 26 month old!!!

Ellie's 2 year pics!

Ellie had her 2 year pics taken at the Fort Worth Stockyards by our friend & neighbor, Caroline Carmack. They came out great! Here are a few of my faves!

Since Ellie has turned 2, she is so different! Her sentences, words, personality! All of it! Jon and I are enjoying this time of growth and learning ourselves, how to handle her changes! She sure has determination & will ;) Ellie is still concerned with other people and how they feel. She will ask how we are, if we like our food, ask to kiss boo-boos, and overall just make sure our worlds are ok. It is so sweet to see her spirit shine through!

Ellie's favorite toys now a days are little figurines from Nemo, Toy Story 3, & Olivia. She has also rediscovered Violet, the talking dog. She sings along with the songs and plays them over and over before bedtime. She loves to sing songs - Where is Jesus, No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Rock a By Baby!

Ok, well there's your Ellie update. :)

Ellie update...

What might our sweet angel be up to these days???

-She is 19 months old (almost 20)

-She talks up a storm!!!! Mostly words we understand but still jibberish at times.

-She says please and thank you

-Another two word sentence she says is "dogs bark"

-She loves to help! She has such a helping spirit! I love it.

-She is obsessed with shoes, shoes, shoes!

-She has to sit in time out frequently

-She is learning/trying to play me. When I tell her to sit, she asks for hugs ;)

-She loves horses, but has never seen one in real life

-She thinks she needs to feed her fish at least 5x/day

-She still sleeps with her blankies

-She tries to sing along to twinkle twinkle little star

-She can repeat almost any word I ask her too (eek)

She is the love of our lives and we are so blessed!

A week of firsts.......

Ellie has been doing a lot of fun things lately.....

We ventured out to the dog park today. Tipps Canine Park in NRH. Us and the Schaeffers packed up the dogs for some playtime. The doggies had fun and Ellie enjoyed seeing all the furry friends.....unless one of them just appeared in her line of sight and then she cried. :) There were about 10 other schnauzers there and 2 other maltese.......so Raider, Bailey, Macy and Molly all had look-alike playmates. Everyone left worn out!

We went to the Watauga Public Library with Angie, Brenley and Brooklyn. The girls had fun playing in the little house, looking through books and running around acting very un-library like ;)

On Friday night, Ellie spent the night at JJ's house. This was the first time Jon and I have been away from Ellie at night. Jon dropped her off at 6 and when I came home from work, Jon and I headed out for an evening alone. We had reservations at Silver Fox, a yummy steak place near TCU. The place was PACKED! Our late reservations were for 9pm but we didnt get a table until 10. Good thing Ellie was staying somewhere else for the night. Jana said that Ellie did great! They played, ate pizza, and all that kind of fun girl stuff. I picked her up Sunday morning, after a sound nights sleep. I'm so glad that she was close enough for me to not have a mommy freak out moment! Thanks JJ!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving and such......

I guess this counts as Ellie's first official Thanksgiving (turkey and all) since last year she wasn't eating soilds. We celebrated at our house......my mom, dad, brother, grandma, and aunt came up for a couple days to EAT and SHOP. This year, our turkey was prepared by Chef Pointe. If you've never heard of it, it's 5 star food in a gas station. Yep, thats right.....a restaurant in a Conoco, or a Texaco...I can't remember....some red colored gas station nonetheless. We frequent this place for yummy breakfast.....a lot! I picked up the turkey on Wednesday night and re-heated it on Thursday. It was delicious!! Ellie enjoyed......

So what's Ellie been up to lately......

Her newest words are (hope these arent repeats) socks and shoes. I love it when she says socks because it sounds like sauce! So cute. She has the sweetest little voice. She still thinks all animals are dogs, unless you have a beak, then you are a duck. He he. She is still all over the place....touching the Christmas tree ornaments, getting into the tupperware drawer, chasing the dogs, playing with my perfume bottles, getting into the bathroom drawers, and mich more! She has a sweet spirit but gets so upset that she cant communicate with us. Her frustrations turn into whines but I am tolerant of it (for the most part) since I know it wont last forever. She loves to help unload the washing machine and dryer. She loves to close doors...like when we are done loading the dishwasher, she closes the door....when we are done in the pantry, she closes the door.....when we let the dogs outside, she closes the back door. Such a sweet helper. She knows how to "high-five" and dance along to music. Unless of course, its Christmas music, she turns the CD player off. She claps a lot and chews on her Your Baby Can Read flashcards. She has her own playroom now (we kicked daddy out and he is in the garage now). She has so much fun running from her playroom to her room and back and forth. She likes to help me push the grocery cart. I hold her on my hip and she leans forward with one hand on the cart handle. She thinks she is helping me push. :) Ellie truly is mu love and I enjoy all of my sweet moments with her.

Here are some of my favorite pics from November...

What's Been Going on Lately.......

Well.....our sweet 13 month old is growing like a weed! Eating so much! Laughing all the time! Making us laugh at the time! And getting too big too fast!

Ellie's favorite foods are strawberries, chicken nuggets. fig newtons, waffles, green beans, ......and as far as drinks go...she loves juice, warm milk, and capri sun

Her newest words are duck, ball, dog, and frog. Of course she is still going strong with mama, dada, and baby. She is such a sponge, it amazes us everyday. Jon showed her what a frog was and then started saying give me your frog...and she will find it and bring it to you! And as if she wasnt acting big enough already....she is pushing her babies around in her play stroller! Or her stuffed animals or Raider's toys. LOL.

Bottles are a thing of the past. I cant remember if I have blogged about this before....but we took them away about a month ago. She now has her milk out of a straw sippy. The transition was much harder for me that her...it was the anticipation of something horribe that turned out to not be bad at all!!!

Watch me grow

Ellie is ONE!!!

Where has one year gone??? Seems like yesterday I became a mommy. To commemorate the birthday, I rocked my little one to sleep on Septmber 5th for old time sake, cried some tears of joy, and reflected on year one of being a mommy. The next day was full of birthday fun. Breakfast with a candle topped pancake, after lunch cake mashing, and dinner with a candle topped Olive Garden breadstick! We had fun even if Ellie had no idea what was going on and why she was getting so much attention. As for her party........


I spent a lot of time, and by a lot of time, I mean like, oh, um, 3 months. I made the decorations with help of some great friends and made her outfit with some help also! Giraffes were the theme since for a few months there, Ellie was OBSESSED with Sophie the giraffe. You remember the facebook posts, I'm sure (especially the one where Sophie #1 was ran over). Anyway, on to birthday fun.......we had her party at the Keller Smithfield Activity Node, a park here in town. It was hot. Heat index 107. But the kiddos didnt care and thats all the mattered. Jana made the cake with painstakingly care. Missy took the pictures for us - probably one of the most thoughtful and gracious gifts ever. Thanks Cody and Sarah!

The pictures speak for themselves!

What a great celebration!

PS - at Ellie's one year pediatrician appointment she weighed 20 pounds 5 ounces and was 30 inches tall. Still long and lean. She is walking and learning new words everyday. Baby is her favorite word and while she used to distinguish between baby and doggie, now everything is "baby." She also says ball and duck (dup) along with her usual daddy and mama. She is growing and changing everyday and is helping me realize how great life is! God has truly blessed us and I am working hard to remember that everyday!

Photo credit http://www.melissaellenstudios.com/

lately.....

Whats been going on with us you might ask? Well we have been busy as usual. Raising a kid is hard work.

Recently I took Ellie to a local farm in Keller. Homestead Farms. They raise goats and chickens and have fresh produce. We came away with some Goat's Milk. Yum. Not. But Ellie doesn't seem to mind it. I just add some to her bottles everyday. She's had it straight and at first made a face like, um what is that. But then she kept coming back for more. tee hee. Why goats milk? Because I am not sure whats all in cow's milk after its been pasteurized and all of that. I mean, what is left? What nutrients were whisked away in the process. Alas, the goat's milk. And yes, it is too early to give her milk but oh well. A friend of mine and Ellie's mom away from me (her care taker) introduced me to goat's milk and so there we are.....I give my kid goat's milk. So it sorta seems like I am writing like I talk. Oh well, thats probably because I have been having this conversation a lot -- the one regarding giving goat's milk to my child. I know, its weird. While we are airing out dirty laundry I also forward face her in the car, give her Mott's sugar free applesauce, let her sleep with stuffed animals in her crib, and tonight I put her to bed with a bottle. **gasp** At least half of those are against the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations. Oh well, she looks healthy right???

She is also taking a liking to more table foods. She's had Annie's organic o's (basically spaghetti o's), Annie's cheese ravioli, lamb, pita bread, chicken, cheese slices, crackers, beans, and much more. She used to gag on them or just spit it out. But now she's a big girl!

Lately, like the past week, Ellis has been falling asleep ok but then waking up screaming. Like horrible scream. I have to go up there, get her out of her crib, and rock her to settle her down. It is heart breaking. I am not sure what is waking her up. Jon and I are very quiet downstairs. Who knows if she is waking up scared, having night terrors, or what. I am going to hopefully take her to the healing room at church. If I remember correctly it is a place, or more like a set aside time for you to go and receive prayer. I have emailed a few people to find out when and where so that I can take her. I always pray over her when this happens but I still feel like I should take her. There are a lot of gifted people out there with a huge power of prayer and intercessory (is that a word). Anyway, will keep you posted.